


Snowed In

by the_trash_prince



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, author isn't used to writing reader inserts and doesn't use "y/n" once, just a little bit though, really this is mostly platonic although you could imagine it becoming romantic later if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27855586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_trash_prince/pseuds/the_trash_prince
Summary: After getting lost in the woods during a school ski trip, you find a tiny cabin in the woods, which you're forced to share with a classmate you barely know. He's not exactly one for first impressions... But maybe, he's not so bad?Or, the first time you try to talk to Joey, he punches you in the face.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Snowed In

Great. Just great. You were having a perfectly good time on your annual school ski trip, but then you just had to go and insist on trekking through the woods on your own. When the rest of your friends said they were headed straight back to the lodge, you really should have gone with them, but you just couldn't resist the thought of exploring the forest at sunset. Now, a snowstorm is starting to kick up, and here you are, out in the middle of nowhere.

Having become pretty thoroughly turned around at this point, you simply pick a direction and walk. These woods are pretty small, so as long as you stick to a straight line, you'll get out eventually. Probably. Icy flakes whip into your eyes and sting your face. Whoever said snow was fluffy should get their head checked.

Hold on. There's a dark shape against the snow, and it's definitely not a tree. Is it...? It is! There's a little shelter out here in the woods! You hurry towards it, figuring that even if it's not warm, at the very least it's out of the wind.

You manage to pry open the door against the growing pile of snow and slip inside, shutting it with a sigh of relief. You blink until the dark interior comes into focus, and begin to take stock of your new surroundings.

It's a very small cabin, from the looks of it. The room you're in now has primarily cozy brown tones, and includes a soft-looking couch set in front of a brick fireplace (no fire inside, though, just some half-burned wood) as well as a handful of tables and shelves, and a couple of lamps. You kick off your boots by the front door and investigate the doorway you can see on the back wall. It leads to another, smaller room filled with supplies, mainly canned foods, where you drop off your excess ski gear for the time being.

You decide to send a quick text to your friends to let them know that you're okay, but you might be back late. Ouch, less than 15% left... guess you'll have to use it sparingly.

 _Got caught in the storm,_ you type out hastily. _I'm fine though, found an old shelter in the woods. I'll head back once the blizzard's over._ You receive a few texts back within seconds - it seems your friends were worried about you and waiting for you to contact them. They send you messages of good luck, and you tuck your phone away with a little smile. Now, if you could just find something to light the wood in the fireplace...

Before you can even get up to look, the doorknob rattles and your heart nearly stops. Who could possibly be out here in this storm? Oh no... has someone been living here? Are you going to get kicked out? Or murdered!?

The door scrapes open (you remember how much resistance there was already when you opened it, now with the extra snow? Whoever's coming in must be really strong...) and your eyes track the figure clad in ski gear from where you’ve ducked behind the couch. Before you can go into full-blown panic mode, the person takes off their ski mask to reveal a wild mess of blonde hair and a vaguely familiar face. You immediately relax, since it's someone you know - well, technically you don't know him personally, but he's in your math class at school. What was his name again? Jason... Jeremy... Joey? It was Joey, right? Well, whoever he is, he certainly doesn't warrant cowering behind the couch like an actor in some low-budget horror movie.

Relieved, you stand up and approach him as he slides his boots off, giving a friendly greeting.

"Hi-"

 _WHAM!_ Before you can even process what just happened, your back is on the floor and your classmate is standing over you in a fighting stance with fire in his eyes. His mouth drops open and you can practically hear the gears in his head grinding to a halt.

"I'm so sorry!" He exclaims, aggressive stance dissolving as he offers you his hand. You allow him to help you up, noting his heavy Boston accent.

"What... what did you just do?" you ask.

"Ahaha... I uh, might have... punched you." He pauses awkwardly. "In the face."

Ah, so that's why your nose feels like it's on fire, even though it’s freezing in the cabin.

"Look, I'll, uh, get you some ice," the boy continues quickly. He heads into the back room, and despite the sound of a freezer door opening and closing, he comes back empty-handed and looking a little panicked. "Just hold on, I got this," he assures, before stepping over to the front door.

Hold on - what is this idiot going outside for? He might have punched you, but you don't want him to freeze to death. You run up to grab his arm and pull him back inside when he turns around and... hits you in the face again. This time with a hand full of snow.

You've changed your mind. He can freeze.

Seeming to sense your stormy mood, your classmate mumbles a quick sorry and scurries off to the back room. You head back to the fireplace with a huff and find some matches and tinder on a nearby table. After lighting the wood, there's nothing to do but sit back on the couch and stew in your thoughts.

Really, that guy! First, he punches you in the face, and then he has the audacity to go and toss snow at you? You shake your head and try to stop thinking about it. But of course, you can't. And really, the more you think about it, the less you blame him. Weren't you terrified of him before you knew who he was? Sure, you didn't exactly punch him in the face, but then again he didn't sneak up behind you either.

At the sound of footsteps behind you, you turn to see your classmate trudging out of the back room with a giant pile of fabric in his arms.

"Found blankets," he explains curtly, shoving the checker-patterned quilt at you. He quickly turns on his heel and stalks back to the other room.  
You stand there for a minute, looking between the blanket and the doorway, totally bewildered. His attitude seemed unusually cold, (you seem to remember him being the class clown) but the gesture of bringing you the blanket was so nice? What is going on? Hold on, is it possible he's... embarrassed? You stifle a smile as you snuggle down into the couch. He totally is! If he's usually a very confident guy, he probably doesn't really know how to handle awkwardness, and just decided to get out of the situation. Alright, you guess you can forgive him for the snow thing, too. After all, he was just trying to help, even if it wasn't the best idea.

Lost in your thoughts, you almost don't hear the soft sneeze that comes from the other room. Almost. There's only one other person in this place, which means... the blonde boy is sneezing? Wrapping the blanket around your shoulders, you head over to investigate.  
This idiot! As you walk in the doorway, you see that, in fact, when he said "blankets," he was lying, and there was only ever one. He looks up at you nervously from his spot on a small, uncomfortable-looking chair.

"Oh, uh, hey."

You scoff. "Don't 'oh, uh, hey,' me. Come on, you're sitting out by the fire."

The boy tries to protest as you grab his arm, but ultimately allows himself to be dragged back into the main room and sat on the couch. He tries again to protest as you wrap the blanket around his shoulders, but you shush him and insist he needs it more than you right now.

After a minute or two of silence in which there’s so much tension in the air you could almost pluck it like a guitar string, you finally work up the nerve to start a conversation.

"So, um, we're in the same math class, right?"  
He looks up, and for the first time, the two of you get a good look at each other. His messy blonde bangs are falling into his dark eyes as he searches your face. Slowly, he lights up in recognition.

"Oh! Yeah, we are, aren't we?"

You smile a little, relieved he recognized you. This would be extra weird if he didn't. "I don't think I ever got your name," you add.

"It's Joey. Joey Wheeler."

Aha, so you were right before. You nod and introduce yourself. With the ice broken, the two of you fall into an easy conversation, getting to know each other better. Families, friends, classes, hobbies, and other casual topics are tossed back and forth. Apparently, Joey plays a lot of Duel Monsters, although he admits he's not the best at it. You know you've got a deck at home somewhere, and you promise to fish it out and play against him sometime. He tells you stories about his friends who are absolute beasts at the card game, crazy stories that you somehow can’t help but believe. Slowly but surely, the awkwardness and tension from earlier fades, and Joey turns back into the lighthearted comedian you knew from school. You only get up a couple times to check on the storm (it doesn't let up) and turn on the lamps as the sun sets, but the two of you slide easily back into conversation the moment you sit back down.

Eventually, you pause as you realize that you're practically yelling to be heard over the wind thrashing at the windows. "Is it just me, or is this storm getting even worse...?" Almost as if on cue, there's a flash, and a huge clap of thunder immediately shakes the entire cabin with a BANG. You glance over at Joey in alarm, and realize you've unconsciously shifted closer to him. The two of you laugh it off, but you’re noticeably more nervous than before.

 _This is stupid!_ you think. _I haven't been afraid of thunder since I was a kid._

 _BOOM!_ Another clap of thunder, even louder than the last, rattles through your entire body. The lamps flicker for a moment before suddenly going dark.

 _I am not afraid of thunder, I am not afraid of thunder, what am I doing, I am NOT AFRAID OF THUNDER!_ But no matter how much you internally yell at yourself, it won't change the fact that your hand is now firmly laced in Joey's. You really didn't mean to grab his hand, it just sort of... happened.

He clears his throat. "So..." You can't see his face in the darkness, but his voice is extremely tense. _This is it,_ you think, _he's going to ask me to let go._

"Where were we?"

"...Huh?"

Joey's voice remains tight, but his hand doesn't budge. "We were just talking, right?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah."

Yet another _CRACK_ of thunder makes the windows rattle in their frames. Your fingers involuntarily tighten around Joey's, and suddenly neither of you feel like talking.

After a few minutes, you can just barely see the room by the dim light of the embers left over in the fire place. Still, maybe if you don't look at your hand, you can pretend that it's not wrapped around the hand of someone who's still practically a stranger...?

"You know, ah..." Joey’s voice fades off, then starts again. "You know, you've got a better chance at winning the lottery than being struck by lightning?"

Now, you're the one staring at him while he clearly avoids your gaze. "What?"

"Just a fun fact!" he says quickly. "Y'know, to help pass the time."

You can't stifle a small snort. This guy... he's really going out of his way to try and comfort you when he's already so clearly out of his comfort zone?

Joey finally turns to look at you on hearing the odd noise. "What?"

You decide to keep your thoughts to yourself. "Nothing. Just, you got it the wrong way around. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lottery."

"Wait, what? Really!?" As Joey starts to sputter, you lean back into the couch and allow a small smile to steal across your lips. Somehow, this boy you only met a few hours ago is having an incredibly calming effect on you, and within minutes you've drifted off to sleep.

Some hours later, you fade back into consciousness. The first thing you notice is that your hand is still safely entwined in Joey's. The second thing you notice is how warm you feel.  
Hold up... wasn't the fire already down to just embers last night?

Slowly, you crack open your eyes, and are greeted with the sight of Joey's peacefully sleeping face just inches from your own. With a tiny squeak, you scoot backwards, but the cold air that immediately rushes in causes the sleeping boy's brow to furrow and a soft, unhappy murmur to escape his lips. His grip on your hand tightens and his free arm reaches out and drags you back to him. Yikes, he's even strong when he's asleep. Still, even you have to admit, it is warmer this way...

You really didn't think you'd be able to fall asleep with that amount of tension in your body, but after laying stone-still for a while, you eventually nod off.

 _BANG BANG BANG!_ You and Joey startle awake at the sound of someone pounding on the door. One look at your entangled limbs sends each of you flailing to opposite sides of the couch, and not a moment too soon - your friends and a couple of people you don't know fling open the door and burst into the room, rushing over to you and Joey. Of the people you don’t know, one is a girl with a no-nonsense look on her face, one is a tall boy who seems to have been frantic about Joey, and one is a short boy with a pyramid-shaped necklace - so these must be the friends Joey had talked about last night?

After quite a bit of fussing and questions - Why didn't you answer your phone? No, "I was sleeping" isn't a good enough excuse! - You and Joey finally head into the back room to retrieve the few items you left there. Unfortunately, somehow, the awkwardness has returned. The two of you pack up more or less in silence, but as you see him turn around to leave, you can't stop yourself from calling out.

"Wait!"

He turns around curiously.

"I was just wondering... would you like to meet up again later?"

A smile starts to grow on his face, making it look brighter than ever in the morning sun. "Sure," he agrees easily, pulling out his phone. "I'll give you my number, and maybe we can talk sometime."

You nod, also smiling. "That'd be great."  
As the two of you finish exchanging phone numbers, one of Joey's friends calls out. "Come on, Joey, we've got to go!"

"Guess that's my cue to leave," he says, heading for the doorway once again. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," you agree. "See you."

He pauses in the doorway and glances back, locking eyes with you. "I’m serious," he says, softer than usual, as if promising to both you and himself. "I'll see you again." And then his usual smile is back, and he disappears.

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost one in the morning and I just spent like an hour editing this story and bringing it over from FFN where I originally posted it, but finally it's done! Now's probably the time to mention that I've only ever seen the Yu-Gi-Oh from the 90s, in which Joey is a little more firey, rough, and independent than he seems to be in the newer series, so if he seemed out of character, that's probably why.
> 
> Also, this was written first as a gift to a friend (Happy birthday, Astro! •u•) but now I guess it's a Christmas gift to anyone who finds it, at least around Christmas.
> 
> Finally, I hope you enjoyed reading the first fic I've posted on Ao3, and remember to stay hydrated, folks.


End file.
